With the ever increasing manufacture and consumption of wine and the concomitant decrease in the supply of cork, there has been created a need for a new type of wine bottle stopper which is reliable to prevent permeation of ambient air into the wine after filling of the wine bottles. The stopper must be reliable, relatively inexpensive, easy to employ and have longevity characteristics equal to or greater than that presently exhibited by cork, so as to permit the laying down of the filled bottles of wine for maturation and subsequent consumption without need for concern of premature oxidation and spoilage of the wine.
The universally accepted wine bottle stopper is cork but the supply thereof is dwindling accompanied by a deterioration of the quality thereof. Should a cork stopper become dry or brittle, it ceases to serve its required function and air will seep therethrough, thereby contaminating the wine by causing unknown and premature oxidation thereof which will ultimately cause the wine to turn vinegary and unfit for drinking.
Screw-on type bottle closures have been used in conjunction with long term wines but have generally been found to be unacceptable for closures of wine bottles. While prior art closures have promulgated inflatable members in necks of bottles, these closures have either been of the types which have provided temporary closures, use expensive and complex valve assemblies or which have evacuated the bottle itself to cause expansion of rubber bladders by ambient air pressure. These and similar type devices have been shown in the prior art by U.S. Pat. Nos. 54,201; 288,603; 337,974; 713,708; 2,425,841; 3,343,701 and 3,609,940.